Katie’s childhood was mostly spent outside with her best friend on the near eastside of Indy, making milkweed soup in the alley, reading under the fir tree and playing epic games of nighttime tag across several yards. Her dad’s outdoor habits shaped Katie’s love of nature; they hiked together, stargazed, gardened, sat on the porch, watched thunderstorms roll in, and always drove with the windows down.

Katie tried college a few times with zero inspiration, and then hopped from job to job looking for meaning. But her life completely shifted when she became a stay-at-home parent. She realized the magnitude of being a parent and wanted her daughter to always be connected to the world around her. Katie and her husband found White Pine while searching for a high-quality outdoor program for kids that would foster that connection. Their daughter tried a White Pine camp in 2017 and they never looked back.

At White Pine, you’ll find Katie sharing info to all the families and helping to bring everyone together. Katie gets a lot of fulfillment interacting with all the different White Pine families and finding ways to help everyone feel welcome, important and valued.

Katie lives in Rocky Ripple with her husband, Derek, and two kids. She’s a homeschool parent, chocolate brownie lover, introvert and is constantly learning about something new. She loves being outside with her family, whether that’s camping, tubing down the Wapahani River, hiking state parks or simply wandering barefoot in her yard getting excited at plants, insects and tracks. It’s hard for her to pick a fav outdoor skill, but carving, weaving and learning the language of birds and animals are always at the top.

When asked what her favorite White Pine memory is, Katie says, “That’s got to be when one of the White Pine instructors and his partner lived in a camper in our backyard for a year. The friendship and community we built with these amazing humans was absolutely life-changing. And probably also the day our daughter came home from forest school CAKED in mud from head to toe from a fun mud day at Chocolate Slide!”